Hollywood's Most Wanted: Megaupload's Predecessors

This article first appeared in the May 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Megaupload's Kim Dotcom: Inside the Wild Life and Dramatic Fall of the Nerd Who Burned Hollywood Hollywood's Most Wanted: Megaupload's Predecessors Inside the World of Cyber-Lockers Speaking at November 2011's American Film Market, the White House's intellectual property czar, Victoria Espinel -- officially the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement coordinator for the Office of Management...

Read more

U.S. hammers Canada, other countries over copyright protections...

Canada may be the United States' largest trading partner, but it remains on a "priority watch list" of countries with the worst records for protecting copyrighted material. In its 2012 annual report on trade barriers and content theft, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk's office put Canada on a list of 13 countries -- including India, China, Pakistan and Russia -- that were singled out as the worst offenders. The office said it was waiting to see if Canada would...

Read more

How Hollywood Convinced California's Senate to Pass a Bill Increasing Piracy Dam

An obscure case last year challenged the value of damages from piracy. Now, California law on calculating restitution could be on the verge of changing what pirates owe. Statistics about the economic damage from piracy tend to be controversial because of a dispute about methodology. When calculating the loss to an entertainment company from someone who pirates a song or movie, do you assume the pirate would have purchased that song or movie at full wholesale price?...

Read more

Animation contract talks break down

Animation contract talks break down Contract for Animation Guild, AMPTP expires July 31 By DAVE MCNARY The initial round of contract talks between Hollywood union animators and producers have broken down after three days, three months before the current deal expires on July 31. The Animation Guild, which reps about 2,000 animators through Local 839 of the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, did not disclose when the negotiations for a new three-year deal...

Read more